And Jamie turned and walked out, leaving the two of them staring after him, stunned.
Margaret had listened in shocked disbelief. He could not mean what he had just said. He loved her! He—
Salomon van der Merwe turned on his daughter, in the throes of a terrible rage. “You whore!” he screamed. “Whore! Get out! Get out of here!”
Margaret stood stock-still, unable to grasp the meaning of the awful thing that was happening. Ian blamed her for something her father had done. Ian thought she was part of something bad. Who was Jamie McGregor? Who—?
“Go!” Van der Merwe hit her hard across the face. “I never want to see you again as long as I live.”
Margaret stood there, rooted, her heart pounding, gasping for breath. Her father’s face was that of a madman. She turned and fled from the store, not looking back.
Salomon van der Merwe stood there watching her go, gripped by despair. He had seen what happened to other men’s daughters who had disgraced themselves. They had been forced to stand up in church and be publicly pilloried and then exiled from the community. It was proper and fitting punishment, exactly what they deserved. But his Margaret had been given a decent, God-fearing upbringing. How could she have betrayed him like this? Van der Merwe visualized his daughter’s naked body, coupling with that man, writhing in heat like animals, and he began to have an erection.
He put a Closed sign on the front door of the store and lay on his bed without the strength or the will to move. When word got around town, he would become an object of derision. He would be either pitied or blamed for his daughter’s depravity. Either way, it would be unbearable. He had to make certain no one learned about it. He would send the whore out of his sight forever. He knelt and prayed: O, God! How could you do this to me, your loyal servant? Why have you forsaken me? Let her die, O Lord Let them both die….
The Sundowner Saloon was crowded with noon trade when Jamie entered. He walked over to the bar and turned to face the room. “Your attention, please!” The conversation tapered off into silence. “Drinks on the house for everybody.”
“What is it?” Smit asked. “A new strike?”
Jamie laughed. “In a way, my friend. Salomon van der Merwe’s unmarried daughter is pregnant. Mr. van der Merwe wants everybody to help him celebrate.”
Smit whispered, “Oh, Jesus!”
“Jesus had nothing to do with it. Just Jamie McGregor.”
Within an hour, everyone in Klipdrift had heard the news. How Ian Travis was really Jamie McGregor, and how he had gotten Van der Merwe’s daughter pregnant. Margaret van der Merwe had fooled the whole town.
“She doesn’t look like the kind, does she?”
“Still waters run deep, they say.”
“I wonder how many other men in this town have dipped their wick in that well?”
“She’s a shapely girl. I could use a piece of that myself.”
“Why don’t you ask her? She’s givin’ it away.”
And the men laughed.
When Salomon van der Merwe left his store that afternoon, he had come to terms with the dreadful catastrophe that had befallen him. He would send Margaret to Cape Town on the next coach. She could have her bastard there, and there was no need for anyone in Klipdrift to know his shame. Van der Merwe stepped out into the street, hugging his secret, a smile pasted on his lips.
“Afternoon, Mr. van der Merwe. I hear you might be stockin’ some extra baby clothes.”
“Good day, Salomon. Hear you’re gonna get a little helper for your store soon.”
“Hello there, Salomon. I hear a bird watcher just spotted a new species out near the Vaal River. Yes, sir, a stork!”
Salomon van der Merwe turned and blindly stumbled back into his shop, bolting the door behind him.
At the Sundowner Saloon, Jamie was having a whiskey, listening to the flood of gossip around him. It was the biggest scandal Klipdrift had ever had, and the pleasure the townspeople took in it was intense. I wish, Jamie thought, that Banda were here with me to enjoy this. This was payment for what Salomon van der Merwe had done to Banda’s sister, what he had done to Jamie and to—how many others? But this was only part payment for all the things Salomon van der Merwe had done, just the beginning. Jamie’s vengeance would not be complete until Van der Merwe had been totally destroyed. As for Margaret, he had no sympathy for her. She was in on it. What had she said the first day they met? My father might be the one to help you. He knows everything. She was a Van der Merwe too, and Jamie would destroy both of them.